Post-holiday sales at industrial goods stores are drawing as many shoppers as last year, but weather gear, sports goods and clothing are selling better.
January is traditionally a discount season in retail and this year is no different.
Guido Parnits, director of the Ulemiste Keskus shopping center, told ERR that sales during this year’s January discounts were stable compared with the same time last year. However, stores have benefited from the cold and snowy weather that arrived around New Year’s.
“Right now, the most important factor is the weather. Now that there’s snow on the ground and winter has arrived, stores selling weather-related goods – footwear, sporting goods, clothing – are doing fairly well,” said Parnits.
He added that sales at Ulemiste’s fashion, sportswear and shoe stores were expected to be solid, though the discounts themselves hadn’t stirred much excitement among shoppers.
According to Parnits, those in the apparel business have observed that people often browse in-store but wait for sales to make purchases, even at the risk of missing out on items they want rather than paying full price.
“People are definitely looking for discounts and they’re more cautious with money than during better times, but there’s never been a January shopping boom,” Parnits said.
Erkki Laugus, management board member at Kaubamaja AS, said their situation was broadly similar to last year’s, though there were signs of a slight positive trend. Kaubamaja is also running sales campaigns, with a focus on fashion items.
“The winter season is now at its peak and seasonal products continue to sell well because of that,” Laugus said, adding that their customers were primarily interested in high-quality goods at attractive prices. “Such products tend to sell out quickly.”
Marta Palm, purchasing manager at Rimi Eesti, said industrial goods sales at Rimi stores had seen a slight decline, likely due more to shoppers choosing international online stores than to reduced purchasing power.
“This trend is most noticeable in our hypermarkets where the selection of industrial goods is also the widest,” Palm added. “Among product categories, seasonal and weather-related goods, such as hats, scarves, gloves, sleds and car accessories, have been least affected.”
Marju Ridamae, head of the Kristiine Keskus mall, noted that their visitor numbers had remained stable in January, though more detailed sales figures were not yet available.
“I believe sales volumes for industrial goods will be about the same as in January of last year,” Ridamae added.
According to the Estonian E-Commerce Association, over 80% of small parcels ordered in the EU in 2024 came from China – a 5-fold increase in just a few years. A similar trend is visible in Estonia.
Ulemiste Keskus director Guido Parnits said the widespread ordering from Temu and other low-cost Chinese online retailers was troubling for Estonian merchants, calling it unfair competition that most strongly affected smaller shops.
“It’s a brutal situation and I sincerely hope the Europe-wide plans to impose additional taxes or other forms of regulation on these goods will eventually be implemented,” Parnits said.
Comparing this January to the same period last year, Parnits said there hadn’t been major drops in store sales and that, so far, trends remained positive. Still, he noted that local factors, like Rail Baltica construction near Ulemiste or roadworks around other malls, continued to influence performance.
As of January, an increase in the basic tax exemption is expected to boost the take-home pay of some employees.
Erkki Laugus said it was still too early to draw firm conclusions about how this might affect consumer behavior and that it was premature to comment on its impact on retail trends.
Parnits believes the tax change will have a positive effect on retail. He noted that when people are left with more money in hand, their mood improves, which may in turn encourage greater spending.
“The real problem in Estonia was that, amid all the noise and exaggeration surrounding the VAT hike, consumer confidence took a serious hit,” he said.
Parnits added that as of December 2025, consumer confidence had already been rising for four straight months and was likely to keep climbing. He also pointed out that macroeconomic forecasts have clearly improved. The main concern now is recovery among Estonia’s export partners, though Parnits says he remains hopeful each year that things will improve.
“The difficult situation has dragged on for a long time due to various factors. Crises are nothing new, but this period has been unusually long – Russia’s war in Ukraine, COVID, rising energy prices – all of it has delayed the expected rebound,” the retail executive said. (ERR)